Mechanical dusting device



F. R. CHESTER MECHANICAL DUSTING DEVICE Oct. 4, 1966 2 Sheets-Sh'e't 1 Filed Aug. 3, 1964 16 INVENTOR.

F G- FRANK R. CHESTER BY mwac & -X

Oct. 4, 1966 F. R. CHESTER MECHANICAL DUSTING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 5. 1964 INVENTOR. FRANK R. CHESTER BY 34 142W- United States Patent 3,276,162 MECHANICAL DUSTIN G DEVICE Frank R. Chester, 6535 Easy St., Carlsbad, Calif. Filed Aug. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 386,991 2 Claims. (Cl. 43-148) The present invention relates generally to dusting devices and more particularly to such a device which is adapted for the application of powdered insecticide, fungicide and the like, wherever desired.

Portable devices are known for dispensing powdered insecticide or fungicide suspended in a moving air stream. These are generally inefiicient in that they usually require the use of two hands to generate and direct the air stream. Also in the well known plastic containers which are adapted to be collapsed to generate sufficient air pressure, the air stream through the outlet is intermittent due to the fact that the walls of the container must return to their original form after being collapsed and the manual squeezing action itself militates against proper directivity and control of the air stream.

It is accordingly, the primary object of this invention 8 to provide an improved mechanical dusting device that can be effectively operated by one hand.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved mechanical dusting device that will generate a continuous air stream as a carrier for the powdered material.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a mechanical dusting device having an improved sifter mechanism to insure the proper dispersal of powdered material in the air stream.

Finally it is an object to provide a mechanical dusting device of the aforementioned character which is simple and convenient to use and which will give generally efficient and durable service.

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification, particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the drawings which form a material part of this disclosure, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of my improved dusting device;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is a partial bottom plan view of FIGURE 2 with the bottom cover plate removed.

With particular reference to FIGURE 2, wherein is shown a preferred form of my invention, the essential elements, which together constitute my novel dusting device, constitute a hopper 10, a housing 12, enclosing a chamber 14, communicating with the hopper 10, a shaft 16 journalled in the housing for rotary movement, a sifting means 18 secured to the upper end of the shaft 16 adjacent to the outlet of the hopper, a blower 20 also secured to the shaft, and a geared transmission means, indicated generally by the reference numeral 22 for rotating the shaft 16 in one direction to force a stream of air and powder out through the discharge conduit 24.

Hopper is formed as a generally cylindrical housing 12 of any suitable material either plastic or light metal. The inner wall 28 is cylindrical throughout the major portion of its length, tapering at 30, to a reduced outlet 32. The hopper 10 may be used as a receptacle for the storage of comminuted material, and when so ICC used would be provided with a removable cover, not shown. However, I prefer to use the hopper as a sup porting means for cylindrical disposable cartridges, indicated by broken lines 31, which are readily available in standard sizes packed with certain types of insecticides or fungicides.

The lower end of housing 12 is formed with a generally axially extending flange 34. Secured to this flange by any suitable means is a ring member 36. A boss 38 integral with the member 36 is telescoped within the flange 34 and with the bottom wall 40 of tapered portion 30, forms a recess 42, the function of which will be hereinafter described. Member 36 forms a central opening 44 which is generally coextensive with the aperture 32.

A lower extension 26 of housing 12 below blower chamber 14 is provided with an axial extension 46 which encloses a chamber 52 for the power transmitting gearing 22. Chamber 52 is closed by a bottom cover plate 46.

- Shaft 16 is rotatably supported by spaced upper and lower bearings 58 and 60, respectively, of any suitable construction well known in the art. Upper bearing 58 is mounted on spaced support arms 62 extending inwardly from member 36. Upper end of shaft 16 has an eccentric pin 64 extending axially therefrom as clearly shown in FIGURE 2. Secured to this eccentric pin is a circular sifter disc 18 which is provided with a plurality of through apertures 66. Blower 20, which may have any suitable number of radial vanes 68, (here shown as eight in number) is secured to shaft 16 for rotation in blower chamber 14.

Rotation of shaft 16 is effected by a spring mounted, hand-operated lever 70 which is connected through a link 72 to transmission mechanism 22 as will now be described.

Shaft 16 has secured to the lower end thereof a spur gear 74 which is adapted to mesh with a gear 78 fixed .to an idler shaft 76. A smaller gear 80 is also fixed on idler shaft 76 and this gear is constantly in mesh with a rack 82 and is held in this position by suitable guide bearings 84 and 86. Rack 82 is connected to handle 70 by a link 72 as clearly shown in FIGURE 2. The upper and lower ends of .id-ler shaft 76 fit in slots 88 and 30, respectively, formed in the wall 50 and cover plate 56. These slots extend in a plane that is parallel to the rack 82. Hand lever 70 is pivoted at 92 to a fixed handle bracket 94 that extends from and is secured to the housings 12 and the extension 26 in any well-known manner. Hand lever 70 is spring urged in one direction, i.e. to the left as viewed in FIGURE 2, by the U-shaped leaf spring 96, one leg of which bears against the lever 70 and the other leg against the inner surface of bracket 94.

Operation With a cartridge 31 of dusting powder inserted in the housing 12, or alternatively with the housing full of loose powder, the duster may be operated by simply squeezing the hand lever 70 from the position shown in solid lines in FIGURE 2, to the position shown in dotted lines. This is a simple one-hand operation and may be repeated as often as desired, the spring 96 returning the lever 70 to normal position. Movement of lever 70 to the right will carry rack '82 with it. Since rack 82 is in mesh with gear 80, movement of rack 82 to the right will carry gear 80 and with it gear 78 to the right until gear 78 is in mesh with gear 74. Further movement of rack 82 will cause rotation of gears 80 and 78 and since gear 78 is in mesh with gear 74, this gear will also be rotated resulting in rotation of shaft 16 and with it blower 20 and sifter 18. As pressure on lever 70 is released, spring 96 will move it to the left. This causes a corresponding movement of the rack 82 to the left which will disengage gear 78 from gear 74 permitting free rotation of shaft 16. Rapid manual operation of lever 70 results in continuous,

though variable, rotation of the assembly consisting of the gear 74, shaft 16 and blower vanes 68, this assembly having considerable mass and attaining considerable momenturn, and the blower action is correspondingly variable but uninterrupted, during rapid manual operation of the lever 70. Loose powder in hopper will be directed by tapered surface 30 onto sifter 18. Rotation of shaft 16 will cause an oscillating or gyratory movement of sifter 18 breaking up any packing of the powder or lumps'that may occur in the powder. The powder then drops through holes 66 and is mixed with air which is drawn in through Openings 8 as indicated by the arrows 1100. This mixture is then picked up by the rotating vanes 68 of blower 20 and expelled in the form of dust through the outlet 24. If desired, an extension pipe 102 may be fitted to outlet 24.

It will be evident from the above description that I have devised a dusting device that can be readily operated by one hand and will ensure a steady flow of powdered material with air while breaking up any packing or lumps which may be present in the powdered material.

It is understood that minor variation from the form of the invention herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the specification and drawings are to be considered as merely illustrative rather than limiting.

I claim:

1. A dusting device comprising:

a housing defining a hopper having an open top and bottom for storing a source of comminuted material;

a chamber in said housing communicating with said hopper;

a rotary blower in said chamber;

vent means leading from said chamber to the atmosphere;

means for rotating said blower in one direction only and including a rack and pinion and a lever connected with said rack, said lever being manually shiftable in one direction to rotate said pinion in driving relation with a drive shaft of said blower, said lever being biased to move in the opposite direction, means to release said pinion from driving relation with said shaft upon movement of the lever in said opposite direction, said shaft and blower having considerable mass whereby the blower achieves sufficient momentum when the lever is operated rapidly for uninterrupted rotation of the blower;

a plate-like sifting means between said hopper and said chamber, said shaft having an eccentric drive connection therewith providing gyratory motion to said sifting means; and

a discharge conduit for said blower.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said chamber is closed except for said discharge conduit and said vent means, and said vent means extends through said housing to substantially the top of said hopper.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,157,630 5/1939 R0 11 43-148 72,892,286 6/1959 Martin 43-148 2,957,268 10/1960 Santarelli 43-148 3,038,643 6/1962 Van Der Lely et al. 275-15 X FOREIGN PATENTS 751,279 6/1956 Great Britain.

ABRAHAM G. STONE, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL KOREN, Examiner.

R. L. HOLLISTER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DUSTING DEVICE COMPRISING: A HOUSING DEFINING A HOPPER HAVING AN OPEN TOP AND BOTTOM FOR STORING A SOURCE OF COMMUNICATED MATERIAL; A CHAMBER IN SAID HOUSING COMMUNICATING WITH SAID HOPPER; A ROTARY BLOWER IN SAID CHAMBER; VENT MEANS LEADING FROM SAID CHAMBER TO THE ATMOSPHERE; MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID BLOWER IN ONE DIRECTION ONLY AND INCLUDING A RACK AND PINION AND A LEVER CONNECTED WITH SAID RACK, SAID LEVER BEING MANUALLY SHIFTABLE IN ONE DIRECTION TO ROTATE SAID PINION IN DRIVING RELATION WITH A DRIVE SHAFT OF SAID BLOWER, SAID LEVER BEING BIASED TO MOVE IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, MEANS TO RELEASE SAID PINION FROM DRIVING RELATION WITH SAID SHAFT UPON MOVEMENT OF THE LEVER IN SAID OPPOSITE DIRECTION, SAID SHAFT AND BLOWER HAVING CONSIDERABLE MASS WHEREBY THE BLOWER ACHIEVES SUFFICIENT MOMENTUM WHEN THE LEVER IS OPERATED RAPIDLY FOR UNINTERRUPTED ROTATION OF THE BLOWER; A PLATE-LIKE SIFTING MEANS BETWEEN SAID HOPPER AND SAID CHAMBER, SAID SHAFT HAVING AN ECCENTRIC DRIVE CONNECTION THEREWITH PROVIDING GYRATORY MOTION TO SAID SIFTING MEANS; AND A DISCHARGE CONDUIT FOR SAID BLOWER. 